Our White Christmas

Well, it's certainly been a memorable holiday weekend with the first White Christmas this area has seen in about 20 years. I must admit, we would have been thrilled about the current snowfall if we hadn't just been snowed in for 5 days less than 2 weeks ago. Regardless, we're glad that Parker got to experience a White Christmas of his very own. Here's what was going on outside yesterday:

And this is what was going on inside after the snowman making fun and snowball fights:

I'm pretty sure that Parker had a fantastic and memorable day. Thankfully, we have enough toys and books to keep up occupied for the next handful of days as we wait for the sun to come out to thaw our igloo of a house.

Breakfast Casserole: A Christmas Morning Tradition

Since the first year that my husband and I spent as a married couple, I have been making this breakfast casserole on Christmas morning. I recall my mom spending hours in the kitchen on Christmas morning and I vowed to find an easier way to make a memorable meal without missing all of the excitement in the living room. This is a one dish casserole that takes about 40 minutes to bake and it is exceedingly delicious.

Here's what you need:

1 package of sausage, cooked and crumbled

1 chopped green onion

2 cups shredded cheese (we use cheddar)

6 eggs, beaten

1 cup water

1 packet country gravy mix

1 package hashbrowns

First, put the sausage and onion in the bottom of your casserole dish. Next, spread the cheese over the top. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, water and country gravy mix and pour the combined mixture over the cheese. Finally, add the hashbrowns on top.

Generally, I brown the sausage on Christmas Eve so that the entire recipe comes together in minutes. Bake this hearty casserole at 325 degrees for 40 minutes, which is usually about how long it takes to open presents and clean up the wrapping paper that is strewn all over the floor.

I suppose I could make this at other times of the year, but there's something special about a recipe that the Irishman is awaiting as eagerly as Parker awaits Santa's visit.

Merry Christmas and Happy Eatings!

PS - I'll add a picture tomorrow when it's actually made.

Nutella Cheesecake

I got the idea and directions on how to incorporate Nutella into a cheesecake from my cousin-in-law Tabitha. I thought that the combination of the two was brilliant so when we planned a dinner for our friends Al and Kim, I decided to give this cheesecake a go. The basic recipe that I used was a modified Cooking Light recipe, which uses yogurt instead of sour cream. Here's what you need:

For the crust:

1 stack chocolate graham crackers, crumbled

3 Tbs. of sugar

3 Tbs. of melted butter

For the cheesecake batter:

8 oz. regular cream cheese (I use whipped)

12 oz. reduced fat cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

As much Nutella as you desire (I used 2 heaping Tablespoons)

Okay, let's throw this thing together. If you have a springform pan, that's the best thing to use. Combine the ingredients for your crust in the pan, press it down firmly and bake the crust for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Next, cream together your room temperature cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add in vanilla, yogurt and salt (continue to beat). Then, add in your eggs one at a time and wait until each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next egg.

Pour the mixture into the baked crust, but reserve 1 cup (for your Nutella mix). Put your Nutella into a bowl and microwave it for 20 seconds. Add the 1 cup of batter to the warm Nutella and mix until it's completely incorporated.

Pour the Nutella batter into the middle of the cheesecake. Then, using a knife, pull the Nutella batter out from the center and into whatever pattern/design you'd like. I did a simple swirl pattern, but the more you draw your knife through the batter, the more intricate the design will be.

Bake this lovely cheesecake in a 325 degree oven for 1 hour or until the center is barely jiggly. Turn your oven off and allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven (this will help prevent any huge cracks from forming). Finally, chill your cheesecake either 6 hours or overnight.

Ideally, this is something you'll make the day before you want to serve it. That way, you aren't impatient for the process to finish. My favorite thing about this dessert is that it's rich without being incredibly sweet. If you prefer a sweet cheesecake, either increase the sugar content in the batter or pour a can of pie filling (like cherry) over the top before baking. It has a lovely texture and I could have easily eaten half of it by myself. So this holiday season, before you crack down on the calories, try a homemade cheesecake.

Living In The Moment

I just had my 6-month OB appointment and during my drive home, I felt an incredible sense of peace. While I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, I do know that right now, in this moment, everything is right in my world. While my awareness of mortality and circumstance assure me that sorrow and grief will visit my family at some point in the future (near or far), experience has taught me that all I can do is revel in the victories of life to fortify me for the times when things get rough.

As always, my Christmas wish is for continued health, happiness and love. Frankly, what more could I possibly need?

"Wrapping" Up Christmas Preparations

Well folks, it's finally here: the week of Christmas. Of course, I'm sure that there are still hundreds of thousands of Americans who have yet to start their shopping. I have fond memories of my dad taking me to Service Merchandise on Christmas Eve when I was little and saying, "Quick, pick something out for your mother." While I'm generally not a procrastinator in most things, I usually do cut it pretty close on the holidays. Perhaps I crave the air of frantic energy emitted by people flying through the mall grabbing anything and everything just to have something to wrap? Or perhaps it's simply that time seems to sometimes (always) get away from me. BUT this year, I am proud to report that my preparations for Christmas are done with days to spare. In fact, today, I went to Parker's school to help his class decorate gingerbread houses.

Part of my readiness is due to the fact that I had to mail presents off this year since we're staying put...and, if I'm being honest, the other part is that I used shopping as an excuse to put off work-related stuff that I really need to wrap up. Let's pretend I don't have any work to do, shall we? I'd rather pretend that my greatest task at the moment is preventing Parker from eating his gingerbread house. He's clearly thinking about it in this picture below.

All of our presents are wrapped and ready for Christmas Eve night and I have all of the stocking stuffers purchased and separated by stocking. I must say, it's much more exciting when someone else fills your stocking for you, but I wasn't about to leave that task up to the Irishman. I probably would have ended up with gum and Slim Jims. Finally, I have both planned and shopped for our Christmas menu:

Brown-sugar glazed ham

Sweet potatoes

Mashed potatoes

Pineapple rings

Herbed green beans

Candied carrost

Mixed greens salad

Baklava

Of course, the beauty of not having any company is that I can scrap that idea if I don't feel like it and just serve burgers and fries instead. Ah, the beauty of staying home alone. It's so freeing to not have a single item on the agenda other than "Watch Parker Play with New Toys."

So for the rest of the week, I'm going to soak up the Christmas festivities, dig up our copy of "The Night Before Christmas" and grudgingly, try to wrap up my work so that I can be blissfully carefree when I fight Parker for the Hershey's Kisses that are paving his gingerbread driveway.

Essential Winter Gear

One of the most frequent questions I get from friends and family is about how we deal with the persistent cold during the winter months. I think that they're perplexed that it doesn't seem to bother us overmuch when the temperatures do not get above 30 degrees. I think the answer lies in the fact that we made sure that we had the right winter gear to get us through those single-digit days. Below is a list of what I consider to be winter essentials when the temperature dips below 40 degrees.

1. The Right Jacket

Truth be told, I have an entire coat closet filled with jackets of all shapes, sizes and materials. However, when the weather gets cold, I consistently reach for a single jacket: My L.L. Bean Insulated H2OFF DX Storm Coat.

You can't see the full length of the coat in this picture, but it hits right below the knees. Even though the jacket doesn't feel very heavy, the outside is waterproof and the inside is insulated to keep your body heat inside. There are three different types of weather conditions in which I rely on this jacket: rainy (I don't bother to carry an umbrella since it has a hood), windy and coooold. This jacket has been indispensable. With regard to sizing, I'm 5'11" and about 140 lbs. (when I'm not incubating a human) and a medium fits me just fine.

2. All-Weather Boots

I bought my Merrell Spire Peak Waterproof boots before I took a January trip to Portland, Oregon three years ago.

These boots are total workhorses. They look great, keep your feet warm and I have literally worn them for more than 20 hours straight (walking all day and then flying at night) and they didn't hurt my feet one bit. They have great arch support and I love that on really rainy days, they can double as galoshes without making me look like my preschooler or my undergrads. They are a bit pricey (as is the jacket), but after three years of heavy use, both items have been worth their weight in gold and I imagine I will have them for many years to come. I'm considering getting the Irishman a pair of the men's version for Christmas this year. Hmmm, I should probably move on that.

3. Hand Protection

Another thing we could not do without are insulated, waterproof mittens. The absolute first thing to get cold when you're playing or walking outside are your fingers. We have mittens like these for all three of us.

4. Ear Protection

Ear protection can come in the form of a fleece hat, but both the Irishman and I prefer a fleece band that covers your ears.

You wear this around your head like a headband of sorts and it gives you warmth without completely messing up your hair (in the event that you have to look somewhat presentable when you come in out of the cold). I wear mine running, playing, walking or just around the house if I'm too lazy to get up and turn on the heat.

Well folks, that's pretty much it. Everything else is just gravy once you have the basics of your winter gear purchased. Happy Holidays and stay warm!

Winter Wonderland: The Aftermath

In a perfect world, a two-day snowfest would be followed by sunny, warmer weather that effectively melts all of the snow and returns the trees and roads to their natural barren state. Unfortunately, in the real world, snowstorms are often accompanied by more cold weather, which results in ice laden roads, dirty snow and dead flowers that didn't survive the frost (see exhibit A above). The three days after our beautiful and fluffy snowfall were quite treacherous. Our front circular drive was literally transformed into an ice-skating rink and our backyard turned into a slip and slide for the dogs who were none too pleased to skate along on their stomachs.

I wish I would have taken a picture yesterday, but I was too busy fretting over the fact that Parker has been out of school all week and I still had to grade papers and compute final grades. This is our driveway as it looked this morning when the sun blessedly came out and started melting the ice pit of doom.

And remember our lovely snow covered deck?

It's now just a puddle of sludge and half-formed ice. When Parker looked out there this morning, he thought that someone has massacred Frosty the Snowman. I'm sorry that he had to see so much carnage at such a young age.

Thankfully, the sun should be here to stay for the next week or so and what's left of the ice (and Frosty) will happily dry up. But the respite from hazardous road conditions will only last until the next beautiful snowfall and then the vicious cycle repeats all over again. All I have to say is thank goodness for central heat, a big house (so we don't kill each other) and the Internet. We've successfully survived our 10-day quarantine without too much difficulty. Unfortunately, my jeans no longer fit since we baked 6 dozen cookies right before we were snowed in and I certainly couldn't let those go to waste. Now, please excuse me while I roll myself to the gym to pay my caloric penance.